Diamondbacks
Can the Arizona Diamondbacks Secure a Wild Card Spot
The longer the season goes, the more likely it is that the final weekend of the regular season will decide the final playoff spot.
Can the Arizona Diamondbacks secure a Wild Card spot? The team has shown determination and resilience to get this far. Now, with 17 games left to play, they must play focused baseball to get the last spot.
Runners in Scoring Position
First and foremost, the offense must contribute. There are more than a few concerns afflicting this lineup. The main issue, however, remains the lack of success at the plate with runners in scoring positions. They are currently 24th out of 30 teams with a .241 average. With a runner on third, they are last in the NL with a .178 average in 129 at-bats.
Lack of Home Runs
The Diamondbacks are in the bottom five for number of home runs. If that stat isn’t going to change, they need to produce scoring opportunities and capitalize much more efficiently. This includes smart base running and going from first to third on a hit. One bright stop that should help is that they are the best in the NL with the fewest strikeouts. They will need to continue the plate discipline—any homeruns will be a bonus.
Corbin Carroll Slump
Corbin Carroll is in a massive slump, hitting just .083 in his last 10 games. Pop-ups and strikeouts have been an issue lately for him. Though he has spent most of his playing time hitting second, Manager Torey Lovullo has moved him down to fifth in the lineup. Carroll needs to shake off the slump and get back his hitting form. One thing that could help Carroll is for his teammates to get hits, taking the pressure off him. Hopefully he will come around over the last 17 games.
Avoid the Bullpen Collapse
Can the Arizona Diamondbacks secure a Wild Card spot? Another bright spot this season and a welcome surprise has been the bullpen. Even though the bullpen ERA is sitting just over 4.00, they have been consistent and reliable. They have 37 saves—but have also blown 15. After Paul Sewald was designated for assignment (released), they have used multiple bullpen arms to close out games. Lovullo has decided that the save opportunities will be handled across multiple relievers based on availability and matchups. To stay in the Wild Card race, the team needs to avoid late-inning pitching mistakes and high-scoring innings by the bullpen.
Help Could Be on the Way
Starting pitching help is on the way. Corbin Burnes, out for 15 months, will start Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka are also close to resuming their starting roles. Nelson has experience in the bullpen and could be used when Burnes and Soroka are not ready to go deep into games until they get their arms back into game shape. With 17 games remaining, that has to come pretty quickly.
With Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez in the rotation, this team that was dealing with a starting pitching shortfall will suddenly have some much-needed help. If any of the returning pitchers can provide innings and quality starts, that would certainly be a bonus.
Comeback Wins
The Diamondbacks lead MLB in comeback wins with 41. They are also fifth in walk-off wins with eight. This has kept them in the Wild Card race. However, this team needs to gain early leads then rely on its bullpen and defense to maintain that lead. While they have been somewhat successful, they cannot rely on always finding ways to win in a comeback.
Last Three Games
Making these last 17 games and the Wild Card race more riveting is the close standings between the Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres. The two teams are neck-and-neck in the hunt for a playoff spot. Currently tied in the loss column with San Diego, the Diamondbacks currently lead the Padres a 1/2 game due to one more win. The last three games of the season have the two teams meeting at PetCo Park. The Diamondbacks need to at least maintain their lead over San Diego heading into those three games. Better yet, they need to increase their lead.
The season-series tiebreaker still has not been settled for these two teams. In fact, they’ve split their 10 games so far this season. This means the winner of the three-game series wins the tiebreaker. If both teams are still tied at the end of the season, the team that wins the season-ending series will get the Wild Card spot.
Playoff Atmosphere
Can the Arizona Diamondbacks secure a Wild Card spot? The longer the season goes, the more likely it is that the final weekend of the regular season will decide the final playoff spot, with the Diamondbacks and Padres still jockeying in the Wild Card race. You have to consider that if it does play out that way, those final three games will have the intensity of a winner-take-all playoff series.
If the Diamondbacks can find ways to get hits with players in scoring positions AND if Carroll can regain his form AND if the starting staff is boosted by the return of some needed arms AND if the bullpen can maintain their winning ways, the Diamondback will find themselves the winner taking all.
Jim Marshall
Jim Marshall has been writing about sports for over 10 years. He started his sports career in radio, co-hosting and producing several sports-talk radio programs in Phoenix. He has covered local, college, and national sports, but specializes in MLB. His articles have appeared in several sports-reporting sites, including our own Legends On Deck. Jim is also a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
